Thing 14~Library Thing

I started using LibraryThing about September or October of this year. Our Middle School Media Specialist introduced me to her LibraryThing account and told me to check it out. I use LibraryThing when I am researching books to purchase for next year. I like to see the reviews and how many other people have the book. There are many groups who are able to help with finding the best books and giving tips on what works in their library or may work in your library. I find that reading their comments has lead me to purchasing or not purchasing a book if I am unsure. I like the ideas of how they make their libraries more user-friendly and how they are trying new things to get patrons to read.

I did set up an account with LibraryThing, however, I spent more time searching LibraryThing than setting up the account. I put a link to my LibraryThing page at the top of my blog for anyone who is interested in looking at it. I picked books that my students check out frequently. I randomly chose five books that are currently in my library or am ordering. I did put tags with them which I used from my card catalog. I really like that the books have pictures for visual people. I think this could be very useful if you do not have an online card catalog. Our church has talked about having their library cataloged and would like to have suggestions as to how to organize the catalog. This would be an informal catalog that could be user friendly for all users.

I like how you are able to communicate with other librarians. I like to see which books they found are good and if you like this book, you make this other book. If you don't like this book, then you are not going to like these books. I have spent a lot of time on this site previous to setting up my own account.

When making booklists, I use my card catalog and make a list or catagory for my patrons to access the information. I have lots of booklists for classes as well as personal booklists. I think the patrons would like the reviews given by amazon.com. LibraryThing would be really useful if you don't have an online catalog but time consuming to keep up if you already have an online catalog.